Speeches by Smith.

“10. What steps he plans to take to consult the public on the design of the digital ID scheme.”

“Sixteen banks have closed in Manchester Withington in the last five years, and the impending closure of the NatWest in Chorlton and the Halifax in Didsbury means there will be just one bank left in my constituency. Most of us bank online nowadays, but individuals and businesses still need to access local services. I do…”

“In your speech, Patricia, you referred to the levies in France and Germany. Do they only apply to subscription streamers, and not video-sharing platforms like YouTube?”

“Presumably, you have had some discussions about this proposal with Treasury or DCMS. What response have you had, if any?”

“I want to talk about the Young Audiences Content Fund a little bit, because, in the course of our inquiry, we have had a large number of people saying that it is a great idea and being quite enthusiastic about some form of Young Audiences Content Fund. Why is the BBC maybe less enthusiastic about it?”

“Patricia, in your speech to the Children’s Media Summit, you said, “Platforms that succeed with children must share responsibility and invest accordingly”.”

“You are calling for them, presumably, to provide some up-front finance, and which specific platforms are you referring to there?”

“Presumably, it supports some type of YAC fund if it was paid for by the video-sharing platforms and international streamers.”

“You mentioned that in the enhanced incentive for independent film. Are you aware of any work that’s going on to assess the impact of that?”

“How do you know that? What assessment have you made of the attractiveness of the UK in that context?”

“I need to declare an interest as the recently elected chair of the all-party parliamentary group on the BBC. I want to talk a little bit about financial support. Patricia, you proposed an extra uplift in the tax credit for culturally relevant children’s content. Can you talk to us about what you want to achieve with th…”

“Do any of those have some sort of culturally influential criteria?”

“Ian, you said that you think that the tax credit is a better solution than the YAC fund. If the YAC fund were funded by a levy on streamers and YouTube, would you still take that?”

“We can probably provide you with the evidence. I remember the MOD saying to us that it would make a huge difference. The director general at Historic Houses suggested “If such a rebate scheme existed, that would cost about £6 million,” which is not a lot of money in Government terms, and “It would generate benefits in …”

“It was to do with the football ground, was it not?”

“Those figures I quoted were from Historic Houses and they were about publicly accessible historic knowledge, but lots of people have told us that the reform would make a big difference.”

“Yes, loads of people have said it is an important change.”

“Can I go back to the issue of VAT? We have a situation where if you are building new homes you do not pay VAT; you have VAT reliefs and exemptions. But if you want to reuse and repair these 670,000 potential homes in potentially beautiful buildings with all the embedded carbon, you have to pay VAT. It just seems to mak…”

“That is good and fine, but I want us to deliver these 1.5 million new homes as well; it seems that this is another lever to do that. Do you know if the Cabinet Office has had any conversations on this issue?”

“Yes, but where other Departments can see an advantage in the policy change, they can make the case, can they not? I would encourage both Departments to make the case in this situation. Are there any other financial, or other, incentives that you can use to promote repair, reuse and conversion into new homes?”